On national identity and IATF discrimination

Government has neglected cultural development, failed to strengthen national identity and instill national pride among our people. For this, our youth have become racially confused and suffer from low national self worth. The next administration must work double time to correct this.

The manner by which the national budget is spent reflects the priorities of government. That said, you will find that the budget revolves around President Duterte – his wants, needs and agenda. Only a pittance is allocated to culture, national identity and national pride, and this is a tragedy. Let me cite actual numbers to substantiate my point.

The National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the agency tasked to preserve and promote Philippine culture, was allocated an annual budget of about P30 million. In contrast, President Duterte’s contingency fund was a jaw dropping P13 billion last year. Said amount is used for his intelligence, communications and other “confidential operations.”

Similarly, the budget of the Philippine National Police increased by 123 percent over four years to P169.7 billion. For its part, the budget of the Armed Forces of the Philippines increased by 94 percent to P120.7 billion. Both agencies are vital to President Duterte’s political survival and for his war on drugs (which failed, by his admission).

Like I mentioned, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts is starved of funds to sustain itself, let alone promote Philippine culture here and abroad. For cinematic arts, the Film  Development Council was awarded a budget of  P134 million (2019). In cuisine, there is no government agency responsible for Philippine gastronomy. It was made a side duty of the DTI but only given token attention.

The development and promotion of our creative industries is under the purview of the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), a branch of the DTI. Creative industries include furniture, housewares, fashion, leather goods, jewelry, toys, housewares, etc. CITEM plays a critical role since its operations affect exports, job creation and the reputation of Philippine-made goods abroad. Despite its importance, it was awarded a budget of only P141 million this year. Mind you, this amount must fund its day-to-day operations, the cost of international promotions and costs to mount trade shows here and abroad. No surprise, Philippine-made creative products, no matter how good they are, have little presence on the world stage.

As for education, DepEd records show that spending decreased from P22,067 per student in 2017 to just P20,833.80 this year. A decreasing budget coupled with a rising student population and poor leadership at the DepEd are the reasons why Philippine educational standards are the lowest in the world.

With so little resources appropriated to cultivate Filipino culture, products and our way of life, is it any surprise that the Philippines’ reputation abroad straddles lukewarm to bad? In terms of country branding, the Philippines is ranked 44th place out of 78 countries, according to usnews.com, the lowest among ASEAN.

Whether we admit it or not, we are known more for the notoriety of our politicians rather than our colorful culture, world-class products and global brands like Jollibee, San Miguel and Philippine Airlines.  Exacerbating matters is the constant embarrassment we must endure from government’s atrocious human rights record, wilted-lily subservience to China and the unbecoming behavior of our Chief Executive. Eating humble pie on a daily basis has resulted in a people whose majority suffer from low racial self worth.

Throughout the last five years, there has not been a single organized national campaign to strengthen the Filipino identity. However, billions is spent to advance Malacañang’s propaganda and the Duterte brand. Like I said, the budget revolves around President Duterte’s needs.

How have all these affected the Filipino psyche? It is most evident among Filipinos abroad. (I do not generalize, my observations apply only to those I observe.)

The majority of our countrymen abroad move about with their tails between their legs – afraid to be noticed, afraid to be singled out. We are apologetic for our culture and this is exemplified in our compulsion to adapt our accent and behavior to the foreigner we are interacting with.  Most lamentable is that we are hard-pressed to defend ourselves against foreign aggression. We suffer in silence. We are often on the receiving end of racism and very few fight back.

Our low national self worth is due to poor education and a weak national identity. The next administration must confront these issues with urgency.

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Sitting in their ivory towers and enjoying fat salaries, members of the IATF extended MECQ over Metro Manila for seven more days with continued restrictions on malls and dine-in restaurant operations. The IATF is clearly deaf and blind to the suffering of the thousands of retailers, restaurateurs, service providers and the millions of employees they support.

It would be acceptable if the IATF ruling was fair. It is, in fact, discriminatory. Why is the construction sector allowed to operate with builders working shoulder to shoulder? Why are public markets and BPOs allowed to operate? As usual, the policy was not well considered.

It is not as if government extends financial support to beleaguered companies. The greater majority are left to sink or swim on their own.

The IATF must realize that COVID is now part of our life and we must learn to live with it. Non-granular lockdowns cannot be declared whenever there are surges – to do so is economically self-destructive. The damage wrought has already been severe!

Lockdowns should only be used to buy time to build medical capacities. Problem is, government has not built such capacities. This is painfully evident in the P67-billion unutilized budget of the Department of Health. Again, citizens are made to pay for the shortcomings of government. The injustice of it all is appalling.

When the dust settles, the IATF will be remembered not for how it avoided hundreds of COVID deaths. Rather, it will be remembered for how its heavy hand wrecked the economy. That will be its legacy. On the shoulders of the IATF members is the demise of thousands of businesses and relegating millions to unemployment and hunger.

The pandemic is a health and socio-economic issue. It should be treated as such. To treat it like security or peace and order concern only leads to tragedy.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow him on Facebook @Andrew J. Masigan and Twitter @aj_masigan